It might seem odd that something as seemingly inconsequential as a spice – a food flavouring ... to some of the first truly international trade routes and shaped the structure of the world ...

the ensuing Spice Mania was so intense that it literally prompted the official development of global trade routes by land and sea from Europe to the Mediterranean in the 1500s -- the first routes ...

In 1498, Vasco da Gama's sea route to India opened the spice trade to Europe, and for the next 200 years the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English would vie for control of the spice trade.

01:20:00Since time immemorial, the development of peoples and intercultural exchanges along ancient trade routes have played a crucial role in the evolution and transformation of human civilization.

As the spice routes and the silk roads opened up ... Michael Wood journeys on an old wooden sailing boat plying its trade from South India to the Gulf, and tells how the spice trade with Rome ...

An archaeological exhibition titled "From Sharjah to Rome via the Spice Route" is currently on display ... the exhibition includes items from ancient trade centres such as Mleiha and Dibba Al ...

They have a rich history that dates back centuries, being a popular commodity in the ancient spice trade routes. These small, dried flower buds possess a distinctive and intense flavor ...

The Nabataeans were desert-dwelling nomads turned master merchants, who controlled the incense and spice trade routes through these ancient lands to the Mediterranean, Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia.